Bondi has gone surf crazy. When the most famous surfers in the world come for the first time to the most famous beach in the world the result is a media/spectator frenzy like none other.

Tracksmag.com (and many others) tip for the title made good, Mr Owen Wright. Freak. Pic: ASP/Robertson

Bondi has gone surf crazy. When the most famous surfers in the world come for the first time to the most famous beach in the world the result is a media/spectator frenzy like none other. A packed beach on a perfect sunny day, police escorts for the pros, spectator stampedes, a speedboat tow-in and massive aerial manoeuvres at the Boost Mobile Surfsho Bondi Beach.
‘These fans don’t even know the name of my airs’, would be the Eminem line if he was a pro surfer. It’s doubtful whether much of the crowd today at Bondi knew a lot about what was going on competition wise. But when they heard the names ‘Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning, Taj Burrow and Owen Wright’ over the loud speakers, beach goers grew in numbers, congealed and turned into a screaming mob of star struck groupies.
The beach that in recent times has projected lifeguards and an animal vet to fame through mass media barely knew how to cope when the truly famous arrived on the sand. Waverly Council police were sent down in droves to create a human shield around surfers who ran from the stands through mobbing crowds to the safety of the water for their heats. Wildcards Nick Macdonald and Alex Chacon had the strange experience of being mobbed by fans for photos and autographs, fans who very likely had absolutely no idea who the signatures were coming from. “I don’t know how he does it, I had two minutes of it and I almost went crazy”, Alex remarked later while Slater addressed an enormous crowd of fans.

Kelly doing what Kelly does, signing autographs. Pic Tom Edwards

Amid the spectacle of pro surfers at Bondi Beach it was easy to forget that there was actually a competition being held. And that competition was won by Owen Wright, “the world’s best aerial expert as of now” according to the booming loudspeakers. The final was barely underway when Owen hurtled through a few layers of atmosphere and back down, landing an air reverse and 9.8 points out of 10 for it. Owen takes home $25 thousand and all the other surfers get zilch.
It’s also easy to forget, because of the ‘winner takes all’ format, the runner-up of the event. That was 15 year old grommet wildcard Cooper Chapman from Narrabeen NSW who surprised everyone by defeating the likes of Kelly Slater, Mick Fanning and Taj Burrow. When you do that at 15 years old it’s safe to say you’re heading somewhere good with your surfing.
Everyone loves a mad/hell man to add to a spectacle and today beloved local boardrider Tony Spanos fit that role perfectly by spending hours next to the competition area poo-manning straight-handers over the reef, and then claiming them with muscle-man poses to a cheering crowd. He even entertained us all by getting a speedboat that was cruising around to tow him onto a wave, before climbing back up to the VIP stands for Coronas and more muscle-man posing.

Mick exits the water with a big old smile for the crowd. Champion. Pic: Tom Edwards

Surfing’s World Tour is often referred to as a circus but it won’t ever come close to extravaganza of the Boost Mobile Surfsho until it comes to Bondi Beach. It’s the poor quality waves however, which may be okay for an aerial show but not for traditional high-performance surfing, that stops the WT from coming to Bondi. “They’re not the best waves but it was pretty perfect for airs”, said Owen after his finals win. And after the huge commercial success of this weekend’s Surfsho I wouldn’t be surprised if competition organisers rethought Bondi Beach as a possible event location, or maybe even considered changing the traditional event format to work around Bondi’s second rate surf.

By Tom Edwards

The sourthern end of Bondi had all the action this past weekend. Pic: Tom Edwards